The Science and Technology Ministry today will request Cabinet approval for the establishment of a Public-Private Partnership on Science and Technology.

The move is a bid to upgrade Thailand as a research-and-development hub.

Amid tough competition in the business world, one of the main obstacles to developing the Kingdom is a shortage of its own R&D that can serve demand in the commercial market.

Science and Technology Minister Kalaya Sophonpanich said Thailand spent 0.25 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on R&D, excluding the private sector and military. That is considered low compared with developed countries like the United States, Japan, and Singapore.

She said a PPPST would attract more R&D investment and increase the state budget for it to 1 per cent of GDP, worth Bt100 billion in the next five to 10 years.

The PPPST would be chaired by the science and technology minister. Committees would consist of the permanent secretaries of relevant ministries, such as industry and commerce, and representatives from private organisations, including the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Thai Bankers' Association, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and a network of university lecturers.

Meanwhile, the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) yesterday launched an SME-assistance programme called "iTAP Big Impact".

The programme, developed by the NSTDA's Industrial Technology Assistance Programme (iTAP), is aimed at improving the profits and energy-efficiency of SMEs in three sectors: rice milling, poultry farming and rubber curing.

Chachanat Thebtaranonth, executive director of the NSTDA's Technology Management Centre, said the agency had developed a set of easy-to-implement improvements that could immediately |be applied to SMEs in those industries.

She said the improvements would help increase the profitability of an SME rice mill by 20 per cent and that Bt21 billion could be saved on electricity costs if all 43,000 rice mills nationwide participated.

iTAP director Sonthawan Supattaraprateep said the programme granted financial support to the SMEs via 12 banks that agreed to provide low-interest loans for them.